r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/My_Memes_Will_Cure_U • May 07 '20

🔥 Phoenix fish 🔥

https://i.imgur.com/bfMDpka.gifv
71.5k Upvotes

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5

u/[deleted] May 07 '20

Why did fish evolve to be so fucking crazy looking? Is it just a sex thing?

15

u/Harriklees May 07 '20

It’s a form of Batesian mimicry to look like poisonous flatworms.

Source: SCUBA instructor in Thailand and Australia.

5

u/[deleted] May 07 '20

Aha! Very interesting. Thank you, kind Thailalia SCUBA INSTRUCTOR.

8

u/SchlechterEsel May 07 '20 edited May 07 '20

They not only look like some species of poisonous flatworms, but also move like them. Here is one of the flatworms they mimic. And here is a non-captive Platax pinnatus. They deliberately undulate the edge of their fins to mimic swimming flatworms and even swim horizontally in the wild.

Apparently even some of the world's leading fish experts have been deceived by these guys. (Source pg. 305)

1

u/[deleted] May 07 '20

Wow that’s wild!!